1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a cleaning assembly for, an electrostatographic marking engine, and more particularly to a cleaning assembly which is separated into different zones to prevent airborne waste toner particles from migrating from the detone zone to the scavenging zone.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical commercial reproduction apparatus (electrostatographic copier/duplicators, printers, or the like), a latent image charge pattern is formed on a uniformly charged dielectric member such as a belt or drum. Pigmented marking particles are attracted to the latent image charge pattern to develop such images on the dielectric member. Printing material, commonly referred to as a receiver member, is then brought into contact with the dielectric member. An electric field, such as provided by a corona charger or an electrically biased roller, is applied to transfer the marking particle developed image to the receiver member from the dielectric member. After transfer, the receiver member bearing the transferred image is separated from the dielectric member and transported away from the dielectric member to a fuser apparatus at a downstream location. There, the image is fixed to the receiver member by heat and/or pressure from the fuser apparatus to form a permanent reproduction thereon.
However, not all of the marking particles are transferred to the receiver member and some remain upon the dielectric member. Therefore, a cleaning assembly is commonly used to remove the excess marking particles. The cleaning assembly usually includes an electrostatic cleaning brush, a detoning roller, a skive, and a receptacle to hold the excess marking particles (waste marking particle). The components within the cleaning assembly generally rotate to remove waste particles.
However, a problem occurs when marking particles that are removed from the detoning roller by the skive becomes airborne and are attracted back to the cleaning brush. This reduces the efficiency of the cleaning assembly because waste marking particles may have to be removed from the cleaning brush a number of times before it reaches the waste marking particle receptacle. More importantly, it is also possible for such airborne waste marking particles to be carried outside the cleaning assembly through the viscous boundary layer of air created due to the rotation of the cleaning brush. If these waste marking particles exit in the cleaning assembly, it can contaminate the outside surfaces of the cleaning assembly and/or the remaining portions of the image processing apparatus. Therefore, there is a need to prevent waste marking particles that are removed from the detoning roller from becoming airborne and re-entering the scavenging zone of the cleaning assembly. The invention discussed below addresses this problem by providing a solution that uses flaps or some similar device to divide the cleaning assembly into a scavenging zone and a detoning zone whereby, once the waste particles enter the detoning zone, they are prevented from re-entering the scavenging zone.
In view of the foregoing and other problems, disadvantages, and drawbacks of the conventional cleaning assembly, the present invention has been devised, and it is an object of the present invention, to provide a structure and method for an improved cleaning assembly.
In order to attain the object suggested above, there is provided, according to one aspect of the invention a conductive fur brush cleaning assembly for an image processing apparatus. The cleaning assembly includes a casing, a plurality of rotating components within the casing, and a plurality of sealing devices that divide the casing into a scavenging zone and a detoning zone. The sealing devices prevent airborne waste marking particles from traveling from the detoning zone into the scavenging zone. The rotating components include a detoning roller in contact with at least one of the sealing devices. The cleaning assembly sealing devices can comprise a plush fabric seal or a flap. The sealing devices have sufficient rigidity to maintain contact with the rotating components while the rotating components are rotating. The sealing devices can be air curtains, flaps, and/or plush fabric seals.
The invention also includes a method of controlling airborne waste marking particles in a conductive fur brush cleaning assembly for an image processing apparatus. The method comprises producing rotating components within a casing, and dividing the casing into a scavenging zone and a detoning zone using sealing devices. The sealing devices prevent the airborne waste marking particles from traveling from the detoning zone into the scavenging zone.
Thus, the invention physically separates the cleaning assembly into a scavenging zone and a detoning zone using, for example, flaps or plushes. Such physically separated zones reduce the volume of waste marking particles from the scavenging zone to increase the cleaning efficiency of the operating components in the scavenging zone. By providing physical structures that create zones, the invention is superior to conventional structures and contains waste marking particles within the detoning zone, thereby reducing waste toner contamination of the cleaning (detoning) components of the cleaning assembly.